News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-07-07
TOMBSTONE Ab III WAS.
Times Have ChangeA a Little, but
the Town may Still be Called
Rather Tough.
(From the Stockton Mail }


"At the time l reached Tombstone
everything was at high pressure. Sa-
looms were crowded, and cowboys, gam
blers, murdercrs and thieves comprised
the principal inhabitants. OF course !
was short OF money, but [ had letter
to a man who owned a store in the town,
and [ at once engaged to clerk for him
at 100 month, and was to commence in
about a week, which would be the 1St of
the month. l was dressed rather fOp
pishlY for Tombstone, and as l walked
around the town [ noticed good many
of the cowboys gazed at me in a peculiar
manner, and some of them would haul
their big revolycrs out of their holsters
i'll Il very suggestive way. [ found out
afterward that they were fairly praying
for some excuse to fill me full of bullets.
g wore very natty little hat, with a
round crown, which was very fashlona-
bic at that time among the dudes OF San
Francisco. A day OF two after l arrived
at Tombstone | was seated on a box In
front of the store where | expected to
work, watching the rough-looking men
and listening to the pistol shots in va
riOus saloons. The air was like fur
mace, and as / rested on that box L
dropped into doze.
81 hadn't been Obvious more than a
minute when [ was aroused by very
decided feeling of terror-as though
something awful was about to happen,
and that the principal actor in the trag-
edy would be myself.
:" opened my eyes. ] saw an cnor-
nous pair OF boots. In them there was
man about six feet inches in height.
His canvas trousers was stuck into his
bootlegs, and | could just see hairy
breast through his gray shirt. He was
wiskered clear to=his eyes, and from I'M
der his enormous whites kat his long hair
hung to his shoulders Around him in
a belt were two revolvers and bowie
knife that seemed to me at the time to
be three feet tong.
What's that thing on your head 2
said the cowboy, in a chilly tone OF
voice.
"'That's hat, said / family.
"'He reached forward and took it
from my head, looked it all over, and
then, drawing one of his guns, he threw
the hat into the air and shot a hole in
it. He performed this feat OF marks
manship six times, when [ ventured to
inform the man that it was the only hat
| owned, and that l thanked him very
kindly for ventilating it, as it had saved
me the trouble.
THE giant gazed at me for about
minute, but it seemed to me that his
eyes were fixed ON me for an hour and a
half.
"'Come into the store, said he, in his
awful voice.
81 followed him like lamb.
Hand down them hats, he howled
to q slender legged clerk, and be quick
about it.
"The hats which he pointed at were
on a top shelf, and I never saw q clerk
climb n step-ladder so quick in all my
life. He went up like a monkey, and
the ladder fairly ratified from his trem-
bling. He threw down all the hats
there were in the store, and the cowboy
picked out white one with low crown
and a rim on it about eighteen inches
wide. He jammed the thing ON my
head, threw down SIS piece, and said:
"' Wear that, and if [ ever see you
with any other kind of hat on that
cocoanut of yourn 1 turn yer into pill
Ter of lead.
The cowboys name was Hamstring
johnson, and he was known all over
Arizona and New Mexico. The people
of Tombstone said he had taken a fancy
to me and that l was on the road to for
tune.
Just before was to take my position
in the store the proprietor WAS killed
over poker game, and [ was obliged to
hunt up another job. At length 1 hired
out as barkeeper in the principal saloon.
The partitions were full of holes from
stray bullets, and it seemed to me that
there were more bullet holes in the
vicinity of the bunk than anywhere else.
"One night got into a sleep and was
dreaming that my old friend the big COW
bow was tossing me up i'm the air and
shooting me full of holes, when [ was
aroused by wild yell. L jumped up
and ran to the door, and there stood my
boss in the middle of the floor facing
about dozen desperadoes who had just
entered the saloon. | thought if [ went
out to help him I might get into his
way, and besides 1 thought he might
prefer to kill the gang himself and would
be angry with me if killed any of them,
so I went back to my room. l had
heard q strange noise under the build
ing all the evening, so took up couple
of the boards of the floor and crawled
under. 1 didn't find anything and con-
Guided 1 would take another walk until
l became sleepy. You know it is often
difficult to go to sleep again after being
thoroughly aroused. Somehow / lost
my way and came out at stage station.
I told the stage driver that l was lost.
He said that from my appearance he
knew which way L wanted to go, so he
took me through to San Diego. L didn't
care to go back to Arizona. The weather
is too hot there"